DirecTV Settles Suit Over Misleading Marketing Hidden fees, covert contract extensions, and other fun DirecTV has settled a lawsuit claiming the company has been engaged in misleading marketing practices. Specifically, DirecTV was accused of failing to clearly disclose limitations on advertised prices, failing to clearly disclose contract terms, extending user contracts covertly when replacing defective equipment, promising "cash back" but instead delivering bill credit, and burying misleading fees below the line. According to the original 2009 suit announcement by Washington State's Attorney General's Office, they received more complaints about DirecTV than any other business. The AG notes the company repeatedly violated the State's Consumer Protection Act: "The miniscule 5.5 point fine print at the bottom of a DIRECTV advertisement is enough to give someone a migraine," McKenna said. "Even if consumers used a magnifying glass, they still wouldn’t discover that the 'good deal' they were promised came with potential expensive pitfalls." As part of the settlement, DirecTV will pay $14.25 million spread out among the 48 States, largely to help counter the cost of the year-long joint investigation into the matter. Consumers can obtain refunds by contacting their State's AG Office. DirecTV's amusing announcement of course tries very hard to downplay the settlement, insisting the company was simply "contacted by a few states with some issues they wanted to address" and that "99 percent of our customers are extremely happy with DIRECTV's service." The company also insists that they were, like, totally just about to fix all of this misleading stuff before being contacted by several AG offices.
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 | | Frustrating Yes and theire repair/recovery fee for insurance in case something happens to their equipment.. what's the lease fee then?? DOH
They are very furstrating  | |
|  | | | Re: Frustrating Their lease fee is the mirroring or additional receiver charge. | |
| | pandoraPremium
join:2001-06-01
Outland
kudos:1 | I'm a happy directv customer with no problems. | |
| | | | | Re: Frustrating I was a happy customer for years too untill a few months ago. My kids tivos got unpluged for a few days while doing some work on there rooms. When I pluged them back in i got the 721 i think it was msg that i need to call directv and have them reactivate the reciver. I paid full price for my directivos and they told me they change there system and can no longer activate my equiptment and i was forced to pay 100$ each for a new dvr from them and its a damm leased dvr I dont even own the damm thing | |
| | | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | Re: Frustrating You buy it, and then STILL lease it. A corporate marriage in heaven. | |
| | | | |  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: Frustrating Yes, they are learning from the Software industry, RIAA, MPAA and others. You pay for it, but they own it. You only have a "license" to "operate" it at their discretion. This also means no modding, tinkering, upgrading or transferring to anyone else.
Yes, it's awesome. You pay, but they own and dictate to you.
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
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| | | cramer
join:2007-04-10
Raleigh, NC
kudos:5 Reviews:
·AT&T Southeast
| This is 150% pure CSR bullshit. You said "tivo" and they immediately demand you replace them. This is not the case. They (read: YOU) only need to resend authorization to them -- something you can do from your equipment list at directv.com; it's the same mouse click the CSR has to do. And it used to be as simple as saying "721" to the IVR and it would resend the codes to all of your receivers.
(Note: unplugging a dtivo for any length of time (or at all) is a dangerous gamble. those hard drives don't last forever.) | |
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| | | | I've had two dvr's die within the last 6 months .. and each time they have been a butt to me .. we had to have a installer come re-check things because the 2nd replacment dvr was all splotchy and everything.
It reallly sucks! | |
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|  Steve BPremium
join:2004-08-02
Seattle, WA | I'm A DirecTV Customer.... ...and there are things I cannot stand. You pay such high upfront costs on equipment and then you don't even own it. If you have to give equipment back then why in the hell should we pay any upfront costs at all?
Everything seems to require a contract extension. That is BS. I've also seen first hand their inability to adequately disclose things customers should know.
I will give them credit for one thing and that is that DVR fees are not per box but per account as is the HD fee.
I also have issues with DirecTV personally regarding my account but, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt before I really lay into them. | |
| | | | Re: I'm A DirecTV Customer.... I am a happy Directv Customer. I faced the same upfront fees with Dish Network. If you look a the cost of programming and equipment this only makes sense. If we assume each DVR is $350, even though we all know to sell will be a lot more and you have two its $700 in equipment costs up front it comes to $29 per month over 24 Month. If a customer has Choice Ultimate $68.99 + $10 HD you have $49.99 left to cover programming and their over head. Anyone in Finance knows this isn't possible. So you need to charge up front to buy down the monthly.
In the end if you don't like it head to TW, Comcast, Charter or another Cable or Teleco. Good chance you have Directv for Cost, Quality and maybe NFLST> | |
| | cramer
join:2007-04-10
Raleigh, NC
kudos:5 Reviews:
·AT&T Southeast
| Plus a 2 year contract and early termination fee. Your receiver is then sent to the next sheep. I have a very good question... how many times have they sold the same DVR? And these things don't cost as much as they charge for them. (Tivo sells DVRs for 200$ without losing money on them. They don't get rich off them either.) | |
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| | Thats why i left them. Service was great but for 55 bucks a month you get nothing, no movie channels just the basic plus sci,dis,spike,a&e,usa
After taxes and fees it would end up being $65+
On top of everything we never received the $100 Visa gift card, funny thing is that when you call customer service they transfer you to a different company that deals it and have horrible cs. | |
| crk2h
join:2003-03-19
Murfreesboro, TN Reviews:
 ·Comcast
·AT&T Southeast
| Lucky one I may be one of the lucky ones but I have never had any problems with my DirecTV and they have always been extremely nice when I have had to call them for anything and had my issues resolved with no charge to me. Now I will say I am a faithful NFL package subscriber so they may treat us differently. | |
| | Reviews:
 ·Air Advantage
 ·HughesNet Satell..
| Re: Lucky one said by crk2h:I may be one of the lucky ones but I have never had any problems with my DirecTV and they have always been extremely nice when I have had to call them for anything and had my issues resolved with no charge to me. Now I will say I am a faithful NFL package subscriber so they may treat us differently.
i too have had nothing but good service from them. now that might be because i have been a customer for 14 years now. A couple months ago one of my dvr's died and they offered to replace it for free and even paid the shipping costs to ship the bad dvr back to them. | |
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Reviews:
·Mediacom
| Worst company ever Being a cable guy I heard so many horror stories about DirecTV. Some of my coworkers are former satellite installers and they too agree some of the practices are simply wrong. A leased receiver fails and they send you a new one for free but never explain you just renewed your 2 year contract. Get a service call done - same thing happens. Returned receivers that are 'lost', trying to charge ETFs after 2 days in contract, billing issues, programming issues etc
As a cable guy I know I will mostly deal with people not happy or not interested in satellite but that still does not explain why former DishNetwork customers don't complain about their experiences.
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I speak for myself, not my employer. | |
| | | | Re: Worst company ever I hope that this means the stupid having to sign up for the online "rebate" form to get the advertised prices goes away.
That causes more calls to customer service than any other issue with DTV combined - I hate that bullcrap. Having to fill out a form for a rebate is one thing, having to fill it out to get the price that has been promised is ridiculous, and if the agent doesn't tell you to do it before it is installed then it takes 4-6 weeks for the discount to appear on the bill. For an online form!!! | |
| |  belawrenceThey'll never let you in
join:2000-08-06
Santee, CA
 ·Vonage
| said by Anonymous:As a cable guy I know I will mostly deal with people not happy or not interested in satellite but that still does not explain why former DishNetwork customers don't complain about their experiences.
Do a Google search - DishNetwork is as bad if not worse than DirecTV. I've had both services and, my personal experience is that Dish is the better of the two evils, but like anything else YOUR mileage may vary. | |
| | | | Replacement of a failed receiver is not a contract renewal. When it comes to "Lost" return receivers, people need to track the return and deal with it.
Dish Network screwed me and I had tracking numbers and proof of delivery. Dish Network took my checking account number off my payment and kept the information. When Day 31 came around and they hadnt logged in my equipment they ACH a payment out of my checking account for $575 for two DVR's. | |
| | | | ASCI May, 2010:
Cable & Satellite Television: Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse Debut on Top
Customer satisfaction with cable and satellite TV rises to its highest level in 10 years, up 5% to 66, with nearly all companies registering improvements. ACSI measures the relatively newer fiber-optic providers for the first time, and both Verizon’s FiOS and AT&T’s U-verse lead the way with scores of 73 and 72, respectively. Satellite TV still leads over traditional cable, with DISH Network soaring 11% to 71 to overtake rival DIRECTV for the first time since 2005. DIRECTV falls 4% to 68 as aggressive pricing promotions by DISH—coupled with a price increase by DIRECTV—has the two satellite TV providers moving in opposite directions.
All four of the largest cable providers show some improvement. Charter Communications makes the biggest leap, gaining 18% to 60. Although this is still not enough to pull Charter out of last place, the company is now statistically tied with Comcast and Time Warner Cable, both up 3% to 61. Cox Communications gains 2% to 67 to lead all traditional cable companies for a seventh straight year.
“Having enjoyed near-monopoly status in most areas for many years, cable companies had little incentive to provide quality services at a good price,” said Fornell. “Now that satellite and fiber-optic TV providers have created a competitive challenge to cable, the cable companies have started to step up customer service and realize some gains in customer satisfaction, but they still remain far behind both satellite and fiber-optics.”
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I was a DirecTV customer for about 10 years from mid-90s to 2005--never had a problem with them, had all of the premium channels (minus sports) for about $90; my DirecTiVo unit, IMO, was the best purchase I ever made (until my HD-TV). They seem to have slipped a little in customer satisfaction over the past year or two, but only little. As far as "horror stories" go they still trail most of their competition, but no company is going to never have customer service problems (because people screw-up). All in all, though, DirecTV ain't what it used to be. | |
| | | | If their leased equipment fails, it isn't supposed to trigger a new or extend an existing commitment. | |
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| | |  coldmoonPremium
join:2002-02-04
Broadway, NC
·Windstream
| Re: Count me as one of the 99% I have been a happy DTV customer for over 9 years now and I have had a very positive experience with them. The quality of the service and support has been the best I have had with any provider and I would have no hesitation to recommend DTV to anyone interested.
When I added a second line with DVR/HD several months ago, the sale rep made a point of not only informing me that this change would require a new service contract (the previous one had ended 7 years prior) and repeated herself several times during the discussion as well as during the order process in a way that ensured that I completely understood the terms and what it would mean.
JMHO
Mike
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Returnil - 21st Century body armor for your PC | |
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| | Directtv So much for it being cheap. | |
| | | Trust but Verify IMHO, all service providers compete by trying to offer the lowest price (sometimes based on gimmicks). A low price comes with poor customer service. Most of us would be unwilling to pay more for better customer service....
I was a Direct TV customer, had a reciever go bad, it was replaced. I spoke to the customer service rep at the time the replacement was sent, verified there would be no contract extension, and got the name and badge number. I recently cancelled Direct TV service, was told that there would be an early termination fee because contract had been renewed when the replacement was sent, and I protested. The customer service rep checked the notes on my previous call and verified that I had been told there would be no contract extension. I got the rep's name and badge number. All well and good, excep that I recieved a bill yesterday which included an early termination fee. Take away: keep good notes, get the reps name and badge number, don't assume there won't be an extension if they don't mention it, set your expectations low, and keep the DirectTV number handy.
I have no expectation that my new service provider (Verizon FIOS) will be any better. | |
|  VanPremium
join:2009-07-08
New Orleans, LA | So, DirecTV got slapped with a fairly light penalty for completely lying to the public?
Yea, that will show them
Companies continue doing it and will continue doing it as long as there is little to no penalty for it | |
| |  dvd536as Mr. Pink as they comePremium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:4 | Re: So, DirecTV got slapped with a fairly light said by Van:penalty for completely lying to the public?
nope. its customers did. DTV doesn't have a magic money tree. that fine will find its way onto subs bills somehow.
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The shortest distance between 2 points adds 1.5 stars to T. want $25? solve »coord.info/GC20A37 for me | |
|
Reviews:
·Clearwire Wireless
| Never had a problem with DirecTV Hey, at least DirecTV has some "miniscule" print to complain about. Our local TWC sends out post cards all the time with no fine print whatsoever, just some lowball intro price with no mention that it's some terribly slow speed tier, or the fact that it's an intro offer that rises to some unknown higher amount later on.
Never had a problem with DirecTV myself. On the rare occasions I did call, customer service was polite, professional and way better than the drones at TWC. The DVR is also light years ahead of the antique Scientific-Atlanta boxes that TWC pushes off on people. DirecTV's iPhone app, online DVR scheduling, and other forward looking technologies just put the old cable companies to shame. | |
| | | |
 MemphisPCGuySenior Systems EngineerPremium
join:2004-05-09
Memphis, TN
·Comcast
| Jacking with my Credit Report... I cancelled my DTV when Comcast rolled out HDTV in 2006 or 2007. DTV claims I reopened my account about a year later. Of course I never got a bill and didn't know about it for years, until it showed up on my credit report. The address was wrong but the dispute was denied. So it's still on my credit report and they renew it with another reporting agency every once in a while. DTV definitely plays dirty.
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Onsite Computer Support in Memphis
»www.memphispcguy.com | |
| | | | Re: Jacking with my Credit Report... Hmmm maybe that's whats happening to me. I've been hit with accounts being opened in my name in various parts of the country and then being sent to collections. I have Credit monitoring so dispute the claims each time a new one pops up.
I dropped DTV to get an internet connection that was fast enough to work form home and DTV didn't offer that speed. No real complaints about service. a few episodes of pixilation and a bad HD receiver but for 3+ years DTV was okay | |
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| | Broadband is the future I pay for no video service's, I only have Internet Broadband from Comcast, and Stream everything from tv to movie's. they still suck at customer service, but any company you deal with is the same. Think about where all the channel's come from, The Networks, your paying for how it gets to you, from dish or cable, its the same crap! | |
| | | I had DTV for 8 years I had a revelation in 2009, not more insidious contracts for anyone:
1. Phone, went to VOIP MTM, phonepower - very happy
2. Cell - went to pageplus (with same VZW phone) - very happy
3. Cable - Got rid of DTV after they installed HD PVR and tried to zap me with $49 to ship the thing (the installer came with it). I replaced it with OTA and Sage TV - awesome product
4. HBO - Netflix - Missing some shows, but won't die
5 - Internet - TWC roadrunner turbo (15/2) good product and service from them
Now, granted for cell, I am using a 1 year old phone, but my fams cell bill went from $135 to $30/month. If I wanted to I could get a MIFI and still be ahead (virgin of course, no contract).
Getting rid of cable == $85/month saved
Phone - $8.33 month with 60 min for intl. 2 lines, enough said
Now if ANY one of these companies gives me grief, I just move on, no contracts, no catches.
VZW however is tempting me w/ 3-play for $90 with a DVR for 12 months. My RR is $57 + $9 phone - so that would be $27 for TV, which is entirely reasonable and it's 15/5. GUESS WHAT, NO CONTRACT.
I can happily report that I have ZERO service contracts, and I have ZERO problems with any of my companies which I remain loyal to as far as they remain competitive and take care of issues reasonably. Life is MUCH better. Give it a try. | |
| | Reviews:
·ProLog
·DIRECTV
| They spin their HD which is seriously lacking. Their latest Access cards say "HD Leader" on them. How about the marketing about how they have the most HD vs Dish Network? Clearly they are bluffing.
If they really were the HD leader, then tell me WHERE ARE THESE HD CHANNELS?
AMC HD
BBC America HD
CSPAN HD
CSPAN 2 HD
CSPAN 3 HD
Centric HD
Cooking Channel HD
DIY HD
E! HD
EWTN HD
Fasion TV HD
FearNet HD
FUNimation Channel
Fuse HD
G4 HD
Galavision HD
GMC HD
GSN HD *AND THEY ARE PART OWNER!!!!
Halogen TV
History International HD
HLN HD
HSN HD
The Hub HD
IFC HD
IndiePlex HD
Investigation Discovery HD
Jewelry TV HD
Lifetime Movie Network HD
Logo HD
Mav TV HD
NASA HD
Nat Geo Wild HD
NFL Redzone HD (NFL Network version)
Outdoor HD
Ovation HD
QVC HD
Reelz HD
RetroPlex HD
RFD HD
Sportsman Channel HD
Sprout HD
Style HD
Sundance HD
TBN HD
TruTV HD
Turner Classic Movies HD
TV One HD
We HD
Wealth TV
Wedding Central HD
World Fishing Network HD
More HBO and Cinemax HD coming soon at least....
There are some serious HD STAPLES in there that DirecTV is clearly missing. DirecTV claims to be the sports leader, but yet no Redzone HD (NFLN version), Outdoor, Sportsman or World Fishing Network in HD? They have a boatload of Shopping and Religious channels, but yet no HSN, QVC, Jewelry, EWTN, TBN in HD?
Missing staples like AMC, BBC America, TruTV, E!, Style, Turner Classic Movies,We, HLN, DIY, etc?
WTF are they doing at DirecTV? Someone FALL ASLEEP over there? Must be fun going to work and just wasting time surfing the internet allday or B.S.ing with other employees doing nothing.
If I would of known they would drag their feet like this , I NEVER would of signed up for them. Now I'm stuck in a contract. They grab you by the balls and they win either way. People say if your not satisfied, vote with your wallet and leave. Well that's easier said than done! You going to pay my contract termination fees? Be my guest, I'll tell you where to send the money via Paypal. You can't vote with your wallet with DirecTV. You quit, they STILL get your ETF money. They win no matter what. Its slezeballs like this who don't live up to their name and ad campaignes that really piss me off. They have NO reason to improve, because of locking people into contracts. Look at the cable market. Cable used to suck bigtime. There were area's with maybe 10 HD channels, and there's still some to this day like that. But the market is so volatile in the contract-less world of cable, that they had no choice but to innovate. Stuff like analog reclamation, bandwidth expansion and Switched Digital Video have been deployed (if not to you, soon they will be). Cable is now beating DirecTV in both useful linear channels and HD or SD VOD content. DirecTV doesn't NEED to innovate, because they get your ETF money if you leave or not. What a phenomenal business model. They figured out how to make money from happy customers and disgusted customers at the same time.
The ONLY thing DirecTV has going for it is better set top boxes and software along with a unified multiroom playlist. | |
| | format
join:2001-01-02
Tulsa, OK
kudos:1 | Re: They spin their HD which is seriously lacking. Like anyone is missing those channels . . . | |
| | | Reviews:
·ProLog
·DIRECTV
| Re: They spin their HD which is seriously lacking. Of course people do. That's why theres 100+ page threads on DBStalk every quarter for HD anticipation.
Also with hit series like The Walking Dead and Mad Men, why isn't AMC carried in HD on DirecTV?
The second most request that I see on DirecTV's facebook page is for BBCAmerica.
The other channels are provided by other companies, so why not want to compete and go head to head with the competition? Oh that's right, DirecTV doesn't have to do anything once they get a customer. This is why their customer base increases. False promises, and the new customers can't leave without a $480 ETF fee. There's far more important things to spend your money on than an ETF.
They seriously have one hell of a business model. Must be nice to just grab customers by the balls. Once you have them, you can go to work and goof off all day. What a great job to get paid to sit around and do nothing. I totally see why they did that, who wouldn't want a job like that? | |
| | | | | |  New Customer that Couldn't Leave DTV
So I signup in May... no On-Demand and wrong dish type installed. Next thing I know, 3 days later tried to cancel and they want me to pay $480 or wait two years with a service I clearly told them I wanted. I now have Comcast & DTV!!!
TOTAL RIPPOFF. | |
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| | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | said by format:Like anyone is missing those channels . . .
And your view is the popular one? I'll balance your view out and tell you that I watch a good handful of those networks listed in HD..
A LONG time ago in CA, I used to think that the PEG channels were a waste of good space as did actually many customers. However, here in the Midwest, I brought that point up AT comcast.. it wasn't comcast that defended the "lousy PEG" stations.. it was every single person in the room who spoke up and stated the value of those stations, to them. It was me against 30 people.
Never underestimate the desires of others - if you speak your own view when it comes to the value or desire of something like this subject, you'll find yourself on the small end of the argument, usually. | |
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| | Dish Just a ? here why does my friends Tv look so bad when showing an HD channel on direct tv and on my comcast tv service its a better picture.
It's like night and day I even notice his picture on none HD is horrible. | |
| | format
join:2001-01-02
Tulsa, OK
kudos:1 | Re: Dish Lots of possible reasons for example your friends tv is crap, your friend has his hdtv hooked up using a sd connection, he has his resolution set to 480i. I am sure there are more. | |
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 HRO923Dslr JunkiePremium
join:2000-12-23
Roselle, IL | Lease I just don't understand how DTV can charge so much for leased equipment . $199 for an HD DVR and you don't own it!
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Team Discovery | |
| |  jester121Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | Re: Lease Because people pay it? If no one did they probably would have to lower the price, no? | |
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Direct TV is wireless so there!
Since Direct TV is wireless their management must have thought they had the same right to F@#K the customer as the wireless telecommunication industry did in the past. Unfortunately for customers they just got caught later.
No Problems Here
